


wanna make a bet

by aspiringpencilcase



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-04
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-14 20:10:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9200390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aspiringpencilcase/pseuds/aspiringpencilcase
Summary: wherein blue and sabrina are monarchs of neighbour countries, silver is a prince and gold is the castle's herbalist. crystal is a strategist. there's also magic and cool weapons





	1. with magic soaking my spine

Blue looks at her sword, weary, old and faithful. Her left hand is glowing with the familiar icy white, magic flowing in her veins, warm and cold and comforting. The tournament is in five days, she is going head-to-head, or more like, sword-to-axe, with the rival queen of the neighbour kingdom at the end of negotiations, and she has never been so ready and so equipped with dozens of different plans at once.

Her opponent, Queen Sabrina of the Fleitho Kingdom and the islands of Blah Blah Blah, has requested a royal battle, weapons and magic and fancy dinners before and after. Their kingdoms has been at this passive-aggressive pre-war stage for years, maybe even centuries, since they can’t manage to decide whose county Tesmorus truly is; its rich land allows crops to grow bigger which is profit and people with their stomachs full. It was Sabrina, actually, who initiated the peace negotiations; after the death of her father she shifted the politics of her kingdom dramatically: they now seek a peaceful solution to the dilemma, the official letter with the Fleitho royal seal says in dark purple ink, colour associated with its large sand coasts where the molluscs producing the pigment live. 

Blue herself is only a princess (yet), but it is she who handles all the political and economic affairs of their kingdom. She has large network of spies, web tangled between her fingers, puppets dancing at every slight movement of her hand. She can destroy an alliance with few careful words there and an assassin here. 

The door of the royal armoury opens with a squeak, and Crystal’s round face appears in the doorway. She looks tired, she always does, and no matter how many times Blue tells her to rest, all she gets as a result is “I’m fine, your royal Highness!”. She still can’t get Crystal to call her by her name, even though they’re friends, and this fact is nothing short of frustrating, but Crystal is a stubborn one.

“You wanted to train before your tournament, your royal Highness. May I suggest my help?”

“God, Crystal, stop being so formal with me all the time, I beg you. Sparring is nice, though. Magic or weapon-only?”

Crystal rubs her nose.

“If you’re going to use magic during the tournament, it would be better to practice it now. Though I don’t understand why did you even decide to use magic. It just seems kind of unfair.”

Ah, Crystal. Always the just and the honourable and the honest. Blue needs such people though: Crystal keeps her grounded, reminds her that the easiest and cruellest way isn't always the best.

She doesn’t say it aloud: she’s pretty sure Crystal knows. Instead she shrugs and sheaths her sword.

“Sabrina is a quite fearful witch, just as I am. I will only be battling her, so why not?”

Crystal sighs and fixes the daggers on her belt. It’s pretty weird for such a painfully honest person to have such a dirty weapon, Blue supposes, but Crystal still manages to make it look like a fair game. Maybe Crystal herself believes it to be a fair game, in which case, the situation is perfectly understandable: self-deception is the best deception, and Blue would know.

Her magic _is_ deception.

Well, not literally, but sometimes Blue isn’t even sure whether referring to it as magic is accurate, it’s not that she can unleash pouring rain or move giant rocks with the wave of her hand.

When she does magic, people barely notice: nothing is out of the ordinary except of the way her hands shine with faint white, but these very hands can move at such speed their movements are basically untraceable. It helps a great deal with the sword art: when your opponent can barely see your hands and your sword, it puts them into one hell of a disadvantage. She also plays with luck here and there, but it’s such a thin rope to walk on that Blue prefers not to mess it until it’s absolutely necessary.

Crystal’s much more straightforward - she can jump. It sounds kind of plain, when put like that, but only to those who haven’t seen her in action. She doesn’t stay at one place during the battle, her stamina is incredible, and no matter how careful and observant you are, Crystal will stay out of your field of vision. 

Blue and Crystal make a fair match. Their sparring would draw attention if they ever brought it to public: two frighteningly fast shadows, almost merging with the scenery around, quicksilver of their weapons flashing bright.

But it is unbecoming of a princess to do public sparrings, Blue can almost hear the haughty voices of her court members say, and it’s not like she cares about their opinion. She doesn’t, but it gives her a convenient excuse to keep the full extent of her abilities a secret from people who wouldn’t be above using it against her. They wouldn’t be able to, of course, she thinks somewhat smugly, but having a few aces up their sleeves never hurt anyone.

She follows Crystal out of the armoury to the secluded corner of the ward. It’s hidden beneath trees and there’s a small well nearby, so they can both drink some water when thirsty from sparring.

The sun is merciless above them. There’s not a single cloud rushing to shield people from its rays and at this rate the land is going to be poor yet again and-- 

“Princess?”

Blue snaps out of her musings; Crystal looks at her, eyebrows furrowed in obvious worry.

“You’ve been spacing out lately. Is there something of concern?”

“The drought,” Blue sighs, “as always. We need this peace treaty, Crystal. We need to get our hands on at least the half of the damn county, so we won’t spend each summer worrying over how much crops will survive the heat.”

“The court is hellbent on a full war, just so you know. Your royal Highness.” Crystal grips her dagger, knuckles white, eyebrows never quite smoothening. She’s second-in-command to the head war strategist, so she keeps her people in check, but some nobles have their heads up their asses, since they think the kingdom can handle a war. It’s exhausting to think about, yet Blue always keeps it on the edge of her mind: she needs to protect her people, her country, and if someone thinks that they can send people to their death because they have golden plates or her uncle had it bad for their brother once, she has bad news for them all.

“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Crystal. I’ll deal with them. Your people are with us, right?”

Crystal nods, sure and determined, eyes grey as the steel of her blades. 

“Some nobles are on our side, even. There are some smart people there, even if I hate to admit it.”

Crystal’s disdain for nobility has always been amusing for Blue. They didn’t get along at first because of it; Crystal has never been anything but polite, but Blue is not stupid. 

Apparently, they just needed to beat the living daylights out of each other to hit it off. She was eighteen and Crystal was sixteen and they both admit it was kind of incredibly dumb in the first place, but what can you do. 

Blue chuckles and takes her sword out; her palms shine. 

“Ready?”

“Whenever you are.”

The world disappears, trees and the grey walls of Blue’s castle, her home, blur into one intangible mess, only her opponent before her.

 

***

Next morning Blue is greeted with the sunshine petting her eyelids. She gets out of her sleeping gown and puts on her best dress, grey and blue with silver lace bringing out her collarbones. The dress is knee-length and puffy, extremely ceremonial, at least by her kingdom’s standards, and a few jewels here and there to highlight her status won’t hurt either. She doesn’t have the rights to wield the scepter yet, but she tries it out anyway; it’s heavy in her palm, cold, but it belongs here and Blue can feel the responsibility attached, pulling her down, down, down to the earth.

It gets her mulling over the negotiations once again. The are just another step in enhancing her power, at establishing herself as the next leader. She doesn't have anything to prove to the people of the kingdom: they love her, she always does the best for them. It won’t be so easy with the court; they did have to ease off on the luxury when Blue managed to decrease the land tax and, besides, they can’t manipulate her like they did with her poor uncle.

Well, that’s a shame, but not really. The negotiations have been proceeding quite smoothly, in fact. They’ve barely tackled the issue, since Sabrina has been in the castle only for a day and the first meeting is always spent in the defensive stance, glances exchanged, knights touching their spears as a greeting, but Blue has a feeling. 

She puts the scepter back into the locked jewelry box hidden beneath the portrait of her uncle in her bedroom. He himself gave it to her, told her to keep it safe, “I entrust the kingdom to you, Blue” he said, hushed whisper, followed by weak cough. It was just before the letter from Fleitho arrived and, coincidentally, his condition worsened dramatically. 

Blue grits her teeth to chase away the sudden wave of helplessness; she can’t do anything for him, despite all the love and care he’s given her throughout her childhood, after her parents died. Her mother was the Queen and Blue was supposed to inherit the throne, the eldest daughter and whatnot, but.

Her mother was also a huntress, so.

She doesn’t like to think about that.

She puts on her shoes, short heels, encrusted with jewels, et cetera, only appropriate for such high a figure as yourself, Blue remembers the syrupy voice of the shoemaker. They are also incredibly unsuitable for fighting, so she wears them once in a blue moon, for example, at the breakfast with fellow royalty. This morning is just the occasion.

Hair combed, face fresh, she walks downstairs, doing her best to look as confident as she should feel. It’s not as if she’s nervous, it’s just a small knot of worry worming its way into her chest. What if we fail these negotiations, what if I fail these negotiations, we can’t afford a war.

“Blue?”

She turns around, fast, skirts swishing, only to see her brother with his red hair up in a ponytail, looking positively radiant. Blue smiles at him, affection nested in the corners of her mouth.

“Looking good, little brother! How does our royal Highness feel this fine morning?”

She dodges his playful punch and doesn’t miss the red spots high on his cheeks.

“Oooh, I see how it is! How is my favourite herbalist doing?”

The flush on Silver’s cheeks matches his hair in colour and his scowl in intensity.

“How are you, anyway? Already have everything planned?”

“Do you remember a time when I didn’t?” Blue laughs, careful not to let any concern into the curve of her mouth; Silver, of course, notices her uneasiness, but chooses not to comment on it. Blue it grateful for that.

They proceed to the dining hall, the royal siblings, looking dashing and all that. Silver walks just a touch behind her, his footsteps sure and a bit faster than it’s appropriate, but Blue doesn’t really mind.

The first thing Blue sees upon opening the heavy oak door leading to the dining hall is Sabrina. She’s all up in her formal attire, and she looks like a pirate captain who’s just stepped off her ship; nothing surprising about that, of course, since Fleitho heavily depends on its flotilla and being good at sailing is basically the first thing their people learn. They breathe sea salt and worship the sea itself, Fleitho’s neighbours whisper.

Maybe it’s true, Blue thinks, taking in Sabrina’s knee-high boots, smooth dark leather of her belt, and white collared shirt, showing the base of her pale throat. 

“Princess Blue.”

Sabrina’s voice is polite enough yet the underneath of it there’s ice, cold and transparent and smooth, and Blue wonders whether melting it is a task possible for anyone.

“Good morning, your Majesty. I hope you have found our castle to your liking?”

“Thank you, everyone here has been nothing but hospitable.”

Sabrina’s hair is jet black, her eyes are piercing; Blue can see that her only wish is to get the negotiations over with. Good we’re on the same page here, she can’t help thinking.

“Shall we have breakfast and then start discussing the treaty?” she asks and doesn't miss the way Sabrina’s eyes light up with determination. 

Sabrina nods in the direction of her guards and advisers, who take it as a sign to scurry off to take their places at the dining table. Blue, Silver and Sabrina herself sit at the head of the table while numerous servants start to fill the plates.

The clacking of silverware against the plates highlights the silence descended over their small corner of the table. The members of Blue’s court seem to engage in a lively conversation with Sabrina’s companions, all fake cheer and steel flashing in their eyes as they smile. 

Sabrina herself, however, has the presence of a stone. She cuts her meat into tiny pieces, the movements of her fork definite and sharp; Blue feels the danger radiating from her steady silhouette and thinks how a fork can be a murder weapon if applied correctly. This, suddenly, is the most fun she’s had in months.

She keeps her face neutral, though. Playing the court game has been her constant pastime since age eleven; she knows how it’s done and wearing your heart on your sleeve is violating about a hundred of its rules. Blue smiles with the corners of her mouth, purposefully not letting it reach her eyes: no need for Sabrina to know what she’s thinking.

Not like Sabrina is looking in her direction, anyway. The food on her plate and the intricate pattern of the tablecloth seem of more interest to her than anything else; Blue’s mind games included.

Silver keeps throwing little worried glances in her direction and Blue finds it terribly endearing.  
When they get up from the table and Blue announces that Sabrina and she are going to begin the negotiations, he looks up at Blue, sharp and obviously concerned, but says nothing, as he must. He is just as good at playing his part as she is. Okay, maybe she’s a little better, but that’s just experience.

Sabrina nods at her companions and gestures at Blue, her hand sure and powerful, to lead her. Blue’s skirts swish as they exit the main hall and Sabrina follows Blue to the negotiations room.

The sky outside is, finally, grey with upcoming rain, and Blue can’t help but to feel joy upon seeing it. Her face doesn’t change, but Sabrina miraculously picks up at her change of heart, though she says nothing: only her furrowed brows betray her confusion. 

She also seems… hesitant, for the lack of better words, Blue thinks as her heels click against the marbled floor. It is out of her character; worth paying attention to.

Blue opens the heavy oak door, leading to the negotiations chamber. The furniture here is luxurious yet sparse: nothing should distract the rulers from discussions, her mother once said. Her mother also hated the negotiations with fiery passion: she would make her father help out all the time, he was soft-spoken and compassionate and witty. They made a great match. 

Blue bites the inside of her lip to make the sadness, painful and deep, go away. She lowers her shoulders and turns to Sabrina, whose face is unreadable once again.

“We have arrived, your Majesty. Please do proceed.”

Her voice is pleasantly neutral, a contrast to Sabrina’s deep and somehow irritated one. One point, self, she thinks smugly.

The first thing Sabrina does upon entering the room is glancing all around her, eyes narrowed. She turns to Blue, her gaze determined and heavy. Blue would shiver if she was a lesser person; but she is intrigued, her body moves towards a bit without her noticing. Sabrina is a mystery worth spending her time on, it would seem.

“I trust that we will not get overheard in here.”

Blue’s smile widens upon hearing this: this room is her pride and joy. She turns to the nearby wall, careful to keep Sabrina in her sight and knocks on said wall. There’s no sound following her motion; Sabrina nods once, gruff. 

“Then I won’t waste our time. Your nobility is planning to assassinate you tonight, after our meeting.”

To say that Blue is surprised would be keeping silent; her eyes widen momentarily but she is quick to morph her face back into the expression of casual neutrality.

“Trust me, this I know. And you are telling me this, because?..”

Sabrina sighs, obviously irritated. Blue doesn’t understand it: Sabrina is indeed telling the truth - Blue has known of the assassination attempt ever since its very beginning: she doesn’t have spies all over for nothing. What does baffle her is Sabrina being honest with her: she could benefit from Blue being dead, couldn’t she?

“If they’re against you, that means that they’re against the peaceful solution of our county dilemma. That means that I don’t like them.”

“You could always use our kingdom being weak during the nobility rat fights to seize the throne and double yours, could you not?” Blue says, heart racing. There must be something she doesn’t see, some catch underneath this all, at least Silver is safe, he knows where to run, Crystal will protect him and Gold; Blue smiles at Sabrina, back straight, eyebrows raised just a little to indicate friendliness.

Sabrina raises her chin as if to protect herself from Blue’s probing.

“Why do you care how I act?” Her presence feels the whole room, dark eyes defensive and harsh. Blue has never been higher on adrenaline before; Sabrina is a challenge and Blue will see this riddle to its end. Her heart calms down gradually; she still doesn’t trust Sabrina completely, but there’s something in her that is brutally honest, not asking for understanding or forgiveness. This seems endlessly foreign, but Blue can work with this.

“You’re right, why do I. Please excuse me my words. So what do you plan on doing during the assassination?”

The atmosphere in the room is still tense; it feels as if Blue can cut the air between them with a sword. Sabrina tightens her braid.

“It would seem that you yourself are an exceptional fighter, but I am intent on helping you. I need this treaty.”

Blue licks her lips, a tiny movement.

“Only the treaty?” It’s just a jab, one that she throws at every person in her proximity, but in a room filled with tension, it suddenly gains weight. 

Sabrina steps towards her, eyes locked on hers.

“We’ll see about this, princess.” Blue's gaze follows Sabrina’s fingers tracing down the pearl threads in her braid, white and pink vivid against the black of her hair. “Shall we begin?”

Blue smiles, wild and playful and wide, the first genuine smile of hers during this morning and points to the map on the table.


	2. can't resist the strange attraction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a short one today im Sorry

She and Sabrina don’t come to an immediate conclusion about which part of the county goes to whom: the negotiations are a bit tense, just like the relationship between their kingdoms, but it’s a progress. At least now they have a rough draft of the treaty itself, which is more than they’ve had a week ago.

Blue is hesitantly pleased with how this whole event has turned out; she, of course, still has to pay attention to Sabrina’s behaviour because of the assassination and everything. She also never allows herself to be glad before something’s over, since things so awry every so often if she relaxes too early, so there’s that. 

They go in the direction of their respective rooms to rest and, in Blue’s case, to catch up with her little circle of best friends-slash-advisors. 

Crystal is probably in the war room, so Blue heads just there. Besides, the entrance to castle’s garden is on the way, so she can catch Gold, and, therefore, Silver. 

Her hunch isn’t off, just as usual.

She leans on the solid stone wall of the doorway and observes the scene before her.

Gold sits next to his herbs, half-turned to Silver, who munches on an apple he’s just picked from the nearest tree. The garden looks like a tiny oasis packed in a stone box of the castle’s grey walls, the air cool and smelling of leaves just touched by rain, even though it was sunny for the past two weeks. Gold seems right at his element, the careful certainty with which he handles his herbs showing in his every movement. Silver watches him intently, as if trying to solve some sort of riddle.

“And how are you doing, sunshine?” Gold sing-songs under his breath and Blue watches Silver trying not to blush and failing miserably. Gold continues petting some plant which looks like a chamomile, but Blue isn’t sure - she isn’t the royal herbalist here.

“The soil is a bit dry, but the rain is coming, so all of you are going to be okay! Princess needs you for I honestly don’t know what purpose, and I’m not comfortable knowing, because she can wipe the floor with me in a heartbeat, but, yeah, I love you and you are going to prosper!”

“Why are you even talking to your plants, not like they can hear you.” Silver mumbles into his apple, and Gold rises to his feet with a little pop of his knees, looking affronted on his garden’s behalf.

“Don’t listen to this ridiculous person, he doesn’t know anything and he didn’t want to insult you.”

Gold takes a step in Silver’s direction and leans on the tree next to him, watching Silver from the corner of his eye.

Blue smiles lightly: she’s been observing their whole dancing around each other for approximately a year now and this is just as entertaining as it was when it all began. Silver pretends not to stare at the gentle way Gold tends to his plants and Blue will never forget the dreamy gaze Gold shot Silver’s way when he watched Silver pull his hair in a high ponytail before the archery practice. 

“It’s not me who’s ridiculous here,” Silver says half-heartedly and reaches to kick Gold’s ankle. Gold just smiles and ruffles his hair.

This is terribly endearing to watch, of course, but Blue is kind of short on time.

She enters the garden, immediately getting some vines tangled up with her tiara. The rustle of grass attracts Silver’s attention and his forehead scrunches up in concern upon seeing her. 

Blue fumbles a bit with the vine, trying to free her tiara without harming the plant; after a few seconds she manages to do just that. She raises her head to эflash a quick smile at her brother, who currently looks like a ruffled red cat lost in a maze of the castle’s corridors. 

“Did the negotiations go okay?” Silver asks, voice tensing up immediately. Blue feels a sudden surge of guilt: he was so careless and young just a few moments ago, only to be pulled back to the earth and politics and, now, even murder plots.

“Yeah, everything’s top notch! But I want to have a few words with you both, so can you both come to the negotiations room in half an hour?”

This is actually a code known only to the four of them: negotiations room actually means Blue’s: the walls have ears and Blue isn’t eager on dealing with meddling nobles. Silver gives her a curt nod, Gold smiles, seemingly clueless to the entire affair, but Blue isn’t the stranger to his “oh-i-dont-know-a-single-thing” act. She’s grateful for that, in a way, since a lot of nobles aren’t terribly pleased with the whole “hanging out with a commoner” thing and she still has to keep them appeased somehow. At least until she is the rightful ruler.

She waves at them, the very picture of carelessness and exits the garden. 

The click of her heels is echoed by the castle’s walls, tall and sturdy, as she heads to the war room. 

Blue finds Crystal hunched over the map of their kingdom, mumbling something under her nose. She seems just as tired as she was yesterday, and the day before yesterday, and every single time Blue saw her. 

“Overworking yourself, as usual?”

Crystal scoffs, quiet enough so that Blue can pretend that she didn’t hear, and raises her head to look at her.

“I’m looking for the weaknesses Fleitho can exploit if the confrontation breaks out, your Royal Highness. Merely doing my job.”

Her left hand shakes: Crystal injured it in her childhood and ever since it tends to react to stress or sleep deprivation. That’s why Crystal mostly keeps to either using her right hand or to ranged combat, using her daggers as throwing knives, and kicks, when necessary; Blue got acquainted with her kicks in their first fight and it wasn’t a terribly pleasant experience.

Blue frowns. 

“Well, I hereby order you to take a break and, while you’re at it, to drop by the negotiations room in half an hour.”

Crystal doesn’t exactly pull a face, but she’s close. She sighs and rolls away the map with her healthy hand.

“Will do, Princess.”

Blue grins at the put-out expression Crystal struggles not to let on her face.

“Till later then! And if I see you working, I will personally put you to the rest for a week. Or a month. we’ll see about that.”

Half an hour later, Crystal is still wearing the expression of generally being done with everything, and Gold has his hand thrown over Silver’s shoulder, both of them sitting on Blue’s bed. Silver looks like he is less than pleased with Gold’s proximity, which makes Blue smother her laugh in her palm - he isn’t fooling anyone.

“So I assume you all know some folks plan to murder me tonight. In cold blood, might I add. Nasty.”

Crystal makes a face like someone forced her to eat a lemon; Gold raises his eyebrows so high that one of them disappears behind his bangs. The only person whose expression doesn’t change is Silver: his hands are crossed on his chest, his back is painfully straight, a guitar string too taut.

“Sabrina knows.”

It feels like she’s dropped a bomb; Crystal’s face morphs into one of obvious shock, Gold’s eyebrows continue their journey up his forehead and Silver actually lets his arms drop, eyes wide.

“But she isn’t supposed to--” Crystal starts, obviously not quite processing what has happened.

“Hush, what’s done is done, it’s okay. She offered to help me, actually.”

“And you trust her? Why?”

“I never said I did, Silver, honey. That’s why I gathered you all here: I need your help.” She isn’t exactly telling the truth: she doesn’t completely expect Sabrina to truly have her back, but something tells her that Sabrina is the person to stick to her word. Blue will have to wait to see how this all will play out, but having the closest people by her side surely can’t hurt.

“I’m but a humble herbalist,” Gold hums. “Doubt I’ll be of any help with this.”

“First of all, I have actually seen you trying to fight off two dogs at once and succeeding. Second, I don’t need any battle prowess from you; I need what you do best.”

“Let me guess: nightshade and hemlock?”

Blue smiles, thin and sharp.

“You know me so well. Crystal, you’ll be shadowing me the whole evening and I would also like you at my back during this pathetic spectacle.”

Crystal nods curtly, absent-mindedly playing with her dagger.

“What about me?” Silver asks, voice dry. He’s no stranger to Blue’s life being threatened, but she never let him watch it from too close of a distance. She has to protect him, her favourite little brother.

She remembers her mother dying from her injuries: they haven’t been fatal, but she got an infection and the healers couldn’t do anything to stop it from spreading. A few years later, Oak confirmed Blue’s worst suspicions: poison. 

She lay there on the bed, so weak and helpless, and Blue hated to see her like that, but she knew she must see her off. 

Blue’s most vivid memory will always be her mother’s palm gripping Blue’s wrist with desperate sort of strength; her mouth curling around her, as it turned out, last words. 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect your father. I’m sorry I’m leaving you alone to deal with this mess. Protect Silver. Love you, little bird.”

Blue choked on her tears back then, sitting on the edge of the very same bed she looks at now. 

She returns to the present only to find Silver drilling a hole in her head using only his eyes. Impressive much.

“You’ll stay with Gold.”

Silver’s nostrils flare.

“And why is that? I can handle myself and you need help and I’m not going to just--” 

“You are absolutely going to. Even if I have to knock you out.” 

She doesn’t explain that he’s her only weakness, that she’d drop anything to help him, that she just doesn’t want him to get hurt. Spirits know she loves him and she doesn’t want Silver to look at her in her battle mode. 

Silver looks like he has a few ideas on where she can shove her protectiveness, but well. He doesn’t voice any of them. 

“We’re to act as if we don’t know a single thing, I assume?” Crystal asks, her voice firm, an iron blade against the soft quiet of the room.

“Precisely.” Blue nods. “You can go now. Thanks a bunch, as always.”

She reaches to hug Silver; he wraps his arms around her without hesitation and squeezes once, quick and easy to miss. She pats his hair, nods at Gold and Crystal, and leaves the room to go to the armoury. 

She passes an exit to the main hall when she spots a familiar black braid. 

“Queen Sabrina. Are you lost?” She offers Sabrina a pleasant smile, which Sabrina doesn’t seem eager to return. 

“Could you show me to the training room? I want to prepare myself for our duel.” There’s an unspoken implication that it’s not the spectacular show-off Sabrina wants to be ready for, but Blue lets it slide.

“I’m just headed there, actually. Follow me.” 

Sabrina nods and falls into step at her side, her boots not making a single sound as she walks. She’s silent all the way, like a cat in a new house, trying to figure out her surroundings and what to expect. 

Blue understands her caution and respects her for it. She’s heard a lot about Sabrina, of course: ruthless, aloof, strong, has an analytical mind, et cetera. Blue was expecting someone more sleazy, to be honest: Sabrina isn’t terribly hard to read. Her motives are obvious; she only wants to protect her kingdom, all while shedding as little blood as possible. There’s something akin to admiration worming its way into Blue’s perception of Sabrina and she reluctantly accepts it.

Well, she still has to survive this evening and then they’ll see about Sabrina supposed honesty, anyway.

Blue gestures to a small wooden door.

“Here we are.”

Sabrina steps into the room, giving every training mannequin and armour stand a thoughtful look. She seems grudgingly impressed with its state. 

Blue smugly crosses her arms: this room was set up by her mother, back when she was just a princess, like Blue now is. Blue and Crystal do their best to keep it in its original state; looks like they’ve succeeded.

“Care for a hand-to-hand round, Princess?”

Blue does a double take. Sabrina doesn’t seem eager, but in these few days Blue has learned that she rarely ever does, and that she would offer first is certainly enough to draw Blue’s attention. 

They will be fighting using their weapons and magic during the ceremony, so it’s not like Blue’s got anything to hide. This also means she won’t be able to snoop, of course, but what can you do.

Besides, the familiar feeling of wanting to prove herself ignites sharp in her chest; Sabrina is a challenge Blue’s determined to see through. 

“I would be honoured. I’ll change to something more suitable, if you’ll excuse me. Do you need me to show you to your rooms?”

Sabrina scowls at Blue’s jab and shakes her head. 

“I’ve already changed, thank you. I’ll wait for you here.”

Blue gives her a small wave and closes the door. The last thing she sees is Sabrina drilling holes in the wall with her stare, intense and simultaneously lovely. Blue shakes her head and goes to her room to change.

A few minutes later, she stands face to face with Sabrina, arms raised at defensive stance. They slowly walk circles around each other, looking for openings. 

Blue strikes first, carefully calculating the force behind her punch: her goal isn’t to hurt Sabrina. 

Sabrina blocks her easily and uses the opening to deliver a punch to Blue’s left side, which she manages to avoid.

The distance between them is slowly decreasing, an invisible force pulling them closer to each other. They pant, Sabrina’s forehead glistening with sweat as she swiftly moves to the left to avoid Blue’s hand.

Blue doesn’t use her magic, but she senses Sabrina’s in the air: it paints her skin a lovely pastel violet and smells faintly of lavender. 

“Why are you using your magic? Won’t it be,” to the right, Sabrina’s knuckles punch empty air, “better to withhold it from me to surprise me at the tournament?”

Blue’s fist grazes Sabrina’s cheekbone; Sabrina exhales, sharp and fast, and changes her stance.

“Can’t exactly turn it off. It’s not an active ability, like yours or your strategist’s.” She scoffs, widening her legs, watching Blue recollect herself after a hit to her shoulder.

“And how do you know that?”

“I can sense it.”

Sabrina trips Blue over; Blue uses Sabrina’s spine as a leverage to throw her to the mat, straddling her.

“Besides,” Sabrina continues, as if nothing happened and Blue’s thighs aren’t framing her narrow waist as a fresh oil painting, “I want you to trust me. We are not enemies, Princess.”

Blue squints down at her. Sabrina meets her gaze without wavering, her dark eyes steady and forceful; her black braid lays on a mat like a pet snake Blue used to have.

She feels a smile blooming on her lips: Sabrina looks so serious in her training clothes, spread under her, flushed red from their fighting. She also looks… really good like this, but Blue isn’t about to be distracted by such trivial matters.

“We’ll see about this today, I believe. One more round?”

Sabrina looks at her like she’s an enigma, like she can’t figure her out, but still she nods.

**Author's Note:**

> huge thanks to Gaia without whose help id never get around to polish this


End file.
